The Agriculture Ministry reported Thursday that the onion supply was estimated to exceed consumption by 5,745 tons between May and August as producing provinces experienced the harvest season.
Farmers on Sumbawa Island in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), the country’s third-largest onion-producing province, had produced at least 1,300 tons as of Tuesday. In 2019, the island, a key onion-producing region in the province, produced around 24,100 tons, a 4.3 percent increase from a year earlier.
“I am ordering the executives of the Agriculture Ministry to work with the regional administration in order to make NTB a cornerstone of the national food [supply],” Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo was quoted as saying in a statement on Thursday.
“Therefore, the agricultural performance should improve so that the production of the province’s main commodities like onion, corn and rice will increase.”
NTB’s onion supply is important for the government as it seeks to stabilize prices and avoid shortages of key commodities during the coronavirus pandemic. But the unfavorable dry season may hinder efforts to stabilize production.
In late April, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo reported that only one province faced an excess demand of onion.
However, the price of onion has yet to fall to its previous level. In May, onions sold for an average of Rp 53,450 (US$3.65) per kilogram, 43.8 percent higher than the average price over the same period last year, according to the National Strategic Food Price Information Center (PIHPS), the government’s tracker of key commodity prices.
Although the price increase might affect consumers, it was deemed helpful for farmers as it could allow them to prosper, said Indah Damayanti Putri, the regent of Bima, another key onion-producing region in the province.
“We really hope to have the support from the Agriculture Ministry for our farmers in terms of seeds, fertilizers or agricultural tools and machines, and we are also grateful for the support for us and our farmers,” Indah said on Thursday.
The Jokowi administration has committed to providing Rp 300,000 in cash assistance per farmer to help 2.7 million farmers stay afloat during the economic downturn caused by the pandemic.
Meanwhile, facing the possibility of a prolonged dry season, the government has pledged to maintain the supply of staple foods and the stability of food prices.
On May 5, Syahrul stated that the national stock of 11 key food products, including rice, would be sufficient to meet the nationwide demand until June.
The rice stock is expected to stand at 14 million tons between April and June, exceeding the estimated consumption of 7.6 million tons within those three months, the minister said.
However, the Agriculture Ministry acknowledged six provinces experienced rice supply shortages last month, including Riau, Riau Islands, Bangka Belitung Islands and North Maluku, whose stocks were over 25 percent less than demand.
“If there is a province facing shortages, we have to be careful and pay utmost attention, reminding ourselves about the distribution amid the COVID-19 outbreak,” Syahrul, a Nasdem Party politician, said in an online briefing on May 5.
The Agriculture Ministry and the State Logistics Agency (Bulog), the government body tasked with securing national staple food stocks, has since addressed the shortages by distributing products from provinces with excess supplies to those facing shortages.
However, on top of the looming risk of drought, the country’s food supply chain currently faces logistical disruption caused by the social restrictions to contain the COVID-19 outbreak.
Some 30 percent of the country’s regions face a worse-than-usual dry season this year, said President Jokowi on Tuesday, referring to data from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).
The President, therefore, instructed the government to store rainwater and start filling reservoirs, retention ponds and other artificial water-storage places.
“Water supply in centers of agricultural production is key,” Jokowi said in an online briefing on Tuesday. “We have to make use of the remaining rain right now, ensure farmers continue harvesting while complying with the health protocols.”
To ensure enough stocks of garlic, beef and sugar until June, the Food Security Agency reported that it would expedite imports.
Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto reported on Tuesday that firms had procured 94,000 tons of garlic from China in April and estimated they would import 78,000 tons more this month.
